Wednesday, December 12, 2007

It's that time of the year again, when rampant commercialism is so obvious there are few that can ignore it. As I anxiously increased my carbon footprint, flying from Boston to Baltimore in icing conditions (the rate of climb on take-off was steeper than normal...getting us above the potentially ice causing conditions at low altitude clouds) to Baltimore, I decided to leaf through the normally vacuous (insert airline here) Magazine. I was not disappointed. An article called "Green Santa", see photo from Delta's Sky Magazine, took some pretty low level swipes at Santa as being unsustainable. It's somewhat amusing...and, as simplistic as it was, maybe it will get a few people thinking about what gifts are suitable and reflect both the values of the giver and the desires of the receiver. I must admit, I like receiving gifts, but generally I prefer to receive items I can use. The fact that I do not tell anyone what I want makes this an interesting exercise.

No sooner did I shove the LOHAS version of Santa from my mind, did I see another article from the USA Today on the risks associated with giving with a purpose (some would say an agenda). Oh, you shouldn't have - really!, I am fairly certain I have done this...whoops! I think I sent my god son some carbon offsets from NativeEnergy a few years ago...what a guy! Apparently it's bad manners to decide that your greedy, selfish, avaricious, and climate destroying relatives should receive some guilt-riddled contribution in their name of carbon offsets to be named later instead of the asinine video game or framed painting of Bob Ross. I suppose there are better ways to ignite healthy debate among family members about our role in the collapse of our collective ecosystem.

In the spirit of alternative fuels, winter, beer, cycling, and comedy...check this out...Cycling High Life.